


Fight Risk

by Aibohp



Series: Three Is A Powerful Number [3]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, The Losers get in a fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 02:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12948873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aibohp/pseuds/Aibohp
Summary: "I guess we're what you would call a fight risk. Get it?"orThe Losers get in a fight with a new set of bullies and Eddie worries about Bill.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've abandoned any sort of schedule for updating. 
> 
> Also! I was thinking about it and I'm pretty sure that Bill and Beverly are the type to get in a fight at the drop of a hat??? Like in order from most to least likely to get in a fight I think it goes Beverly&Bill, Richie&Ben, Eddie, then Mike and Stan are the ones that bail their idiot friends out of jail. 
> 
> Anyway, Hope you enjoy!

“Hey fags!” 

That was how it started. 

Bill, Richie, Eddie, and Beverly were waiting for the rest of the losers at the kissing bridge. They were all going to catch a movie at the Aladdin after school. Anyone would have thought it was a safe enough plan. Then Joshua Lyman and his cronies had spotted the four Losers as they cut through the park and thought to stop by and say hello. 

After Henry Bowers had been arrested and carted out of town Joshua had quickly established himself as the biggest asshole in the school. He had happily maintained the title all the way into high school and it turned out that it was still really fun to pick on the Losers. That being said, he rarely bothered them when they were all together. The summer when all seven of them had become friends had changed them in many ways. 

Most notably they weren’t scared to fight back, especially Bill and Beverly. 

Maybe it was the red hair but those two weren’t only the most likely to not just end up in a fight with Joshua and his lackies, but to pick fights with them themselves. If pressed for a reason why it always boiled down to the same thing. Joshua and his little band of merry pricks had wronged someone and ‘no one else was going to do anything about it’. 

It wasn’t like they would pick a fight just because Joshua had tripped some kid in the hall at school. But the day after he’d started bragging about having raped Karen Wittly he and his buddy Jacob Rickers had shown up at school with bruised, swollen faces that had matched Bill’s and Beverly’s blacked eyes, busted lips, and raw knuckles.

So when Eddie had spotted Joshua, Jacob, and their buddy Brandon Moorely he had sent up a silent prayer that they would just go on their merry way and leave them alone. Of course luck was not on his side. As soon as Joshua spotted them the small herd of assholes changed their course for the kissing bridge. 

“Hey fags,” Joshua called with a malicious grin. It was his usual greeting, garnering little more than glares of irritation from Beverly and Bill. 

“Get lost, assholes,” Bev said, crossing her arms across her chest. “I don’t feel like dealing with you guys today.” 

“Awe come on, why are you always so mean,” Brandon asked, only getting an eye roll from Beverly in response. 

“Probably just pissed because she can’t get any dick hanging out with her little pack of queers,” Joshua sneered. Behind him Jacob and Brandon laughed. Not that it was much of an accomplishment. They were simple minded creatures. “Come hang out with us. We could help you out!” 

“Ew!” Beverly cringed away from them, curling her lip in disgust. “Only in your dreams. I’d sooner lick a frozen flagpole!” 

“Seriously, pizza face. You really think she’d ditch us handsome devils to go slumming with your ugly asses,” Richie asked, flinging his arm around Beverly’s shoulders. “She might not get any dick from us but damn, at least we’re fun to look at. You’re just funny looking.” 

Pizza face was probably the best description one could give of Joshua. His dirty blonde hair was greasy all the time and it spread to his pock-marked face. The poor guy’s skin really did look like it had the consistency of a cheese pizza and if he wasn’t such a dick someone might have felt bad for him. But seeing as he was such a dick, everyone just considered it a form of Karma. 

“Shut up, cocksucker,” Joshua snapped, balling his hands into fists at his sides. Brandon and Jacob had stopped laughing too and were glaring at the little group of four. 

“Wh-wh-what? You mad th-that even if w-we’re ‘cocksuckers’ w-w-we can pull more pussy th-than you,” Bill asked, hating his stutter more than anything in the world. Still, his words seemed to be effective because he stomped forward, planted his hands on Bill’s chest and gave him a shove. 

“What did you say to me faggot,” Joshua snarled, curling his fists into Bill’s shirt and giving him a shake. Their noses were nearly touching as he leaned into Bill’s space, trying to make him cower under the scant inches of height he had over him. 

“Ch-Christ! Do you e-e-eat roadkill,” Bill asked craning his head back as far as he could. His hands curled around Joshua’s wrists as he spoke, trying to shove him back. “N-No wonder no one w-wants your dick.” 

That was the tipping point. Literally. 

Joshua shoved Bill back again and this time he sent him to the edge of the canal. Bill teetered for a moment before reaching out and grabbing hold of his assailant’s elbows as when he felt himself overbalancing. If he was going down, he wasn’t going alone. 

There wasn’t anywhere near enough water in the bottom of the canal to really cushion their fall. Bill’s back struck the bottom of the canal with a splash and he felt the wind get knocked out of him on impact. Joshua landed heavily on Bill’s stomach. His mouth was open, angrily bellowing. There were no words. Just an animalistic wailing. Then he smashed his hand into Bill’s face and turned his head to the side. There was just enough water to cover his nose. 

Bill’s ear and cheek scraped against the cement, feeling cold for half a second before turning into the searing warmth of broken skin. His open mouth filled with water and Bill panicked, struggling to get his face out of the water as Joshua bore his weight down onto the side of Bill’s head. The redhead swung blindly, feeling his fist connect with the heavier boy’s face but not hard enough to get him to move. Joshua just laughed. 

And then suddenly his weight was gone. 

Eddie had scrambled down after Bill and Joshua when he fell back into the canal. Above them Beverly jumped on Brandon, who was the closest to her height. She had gotten a fist full of his shaggy brown hair and slammed her boney knuckles into his nose. That left Richie with Jacob. It wasn’t really a fair fight. Richie was still skinny, even if he’d gotten taller and Jacob was built like a brick shithouse. 

After a moment of sizing his opponent up, Richie leaned down, grabbed a rock and hurled it at the bigger boy’s head before taking off. Jacob tore after him like a raging bull. 

Down in the canal, Eddie snatched up a handful of Joshua’s shirt and started punching him in the back of the head and the side of his face. The impact against the other boy’s skull would leave his hand aching later on but at the moment, Eddie didn’t care. He just needed to get the asshole off Bill before he drowned. 

“Get off him you limp dick piece of shit,” Eddie shouted shrilly. Apparently that was enough to get his attention because the other boy snarled and flung an arm, shoving Eddie back toward the kissing bridge. 

Joshua roared as he twisted way from Bill to face Eddie, who had stumbled backward, falling on his ass in about five inches of water. He shuffled back as Joshua loomed over him. His eyes kept getting drawn to a spot to the left of his head, though. On the underside of the kissing bridge someone had spray painted “Set fire to the fags” in bright red. Then he turned his gaze back to Joshua’s face and shuddered because he looked like he would love to set fire to a fag. 

Then suddenly Bill splashed out of the water behind Joshua and grabbed him by the waist. With a shout Bill spun around, dragging the other boy with him and throwing him to the ground. Their position from before was reversed as Bill dropped down on his bully’s chest and started punching him in the face. 

Just as suddenly as it all started, and escalated, it ended. 

The unmistakable sound of Ben’s enraged shouting could be heard above and then Brandon was jumping down into the canal and scaling the other side like a squirrel. Ben showed up at the edge of the canal, chest heaving. Beverly popped up a moment later. There was a little blood under her nose but she was grinning like a madwoman. 

In the water, Joshua managed to get his hand around Bill’s throat and shoved him away, scrambling to his feet. He looked like he wanted to jump back on Bill and start wailing on him. HIs nose was streaming with blood and it looked like both his eyes might be black by tomorrow. But then Stan and Mike were coming up beside Ben and Beverly. Bill got himself back up on his feet. Joshua wasn’t the only one who wanted to keep fighting. Before he could make a move, though, the taller boy scrambled out of the canal after Brandon. 

“Hey! Richie said he lost Jacob and went ahead to the Aladdin. You guys still want to go,” Beverly asked, holding onto Ben’s arm as she leaned forward to look down at Eddie and Bill. 

Just like that it was like nothing had happened. 

“Sure. L-l-let’s go,” Bill said, turning to pull Eddie up out of the water and then boost him up the canal wall. Mike and Ben hauled Bill up once Eddie was up. 

“We can’t leave you guys alone for a second, can we,” Stan said, wrinkling his nose as he looked at his friends.

“Nope,” Beverly said with a grin, her thumbs flying across her phone as she headed toward the Aladdin. “Guess you could say we’re a real fight risk, huh? Get it?” 

Ben followed quickly after her while Stan rolled his eyes and fell in on her other side. Behind them Bill slung his arm over Eddie’s shoulders and sighed. His face ached, so did his hand and throat. And now that the adrenaline had worn off, he felt tired. Mike joined formation on Eddie’s other side. He snapped a picture of the two boys and Bill smiled a little. 

Mike always took pictures of them after they got into fights. 

He had at least one of all the Losers with a bloody nose, busted lip, black eye, bruises, scrapes. When pressed for answers he said that it was just because he thought it looked cool. There really was something alluring about the imagery. The blood and bruises made them look beautiful and dangerous. 

That summer when they met, the Losers had been something different and other. Even when the memories of what they’d done faded the feeling of being different wasn’t entirely gone. The longer they spent together the more the Losers felt the separation between themselves and the rest of Derry. They could see the deep down crazy that ran through the town like a virus.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Richie couldn’t take his eyes off Eddie and Bill. 

The three of them had ended up back at Bill’s house after the movie. Privately, Richie was glad. Not that he didn’t love hanging out with everyone but being alone with Bill and Eddie had its own set of perks. For instance, as soon as Bill made it to his room, he’d peeled off all his still-damp clothes and dropped face first on to his bed. It was a nice view. 

No one could have blamed him for the fact that he couldn’t stop staring. 

Goosebumps had pimpled up all over Bill’s skin and he shivered. Richie wanted to smooth his hands over the other boy’s back and smooth all of those bumps away. Then maybe once he got to the swell of Bill’s ass he’d make him shiver for a whole other reason. He bit his lip and was just thinking about following Bill into bed and laying kisses over the raw, red skin across his shoulder blades when he was struck in the head with a pair of jeans. 

“What the fuck,” Richie yelped, pulling the damp clothes off his head and throwing them to the ground. He was met with a now naked Eddie hovering by the side of Bill’s bed. “Oh hello. Slow your roll a little guys! Let me catch up!” 

“Keep your pants on Richie,” Eddie said rolling his eyes. Even as he spoke, he slapped the back of his hand against the side of Bill’s ass, making him whine and shift further into the middle of his bed. “Get up you need to take a shower! You’ve been sitting around with a shirt soaked in canal water plastered over those scratches for like two hours! They’re going to get infected or some shit!” 

Bill grumbled and turned his head to the side so he could look up at Eddie. The highest points of his face, his cheek bones, his jaw, were skinned and the red stood out starkly against the paleness of his face. Despite how much it must have hurt there was a playful glint in his eye when he looked up at the shortest boy in their little trio. Eddie’s serious face with his furrowed brow and pinched expression made him grin. 

“You g-gonna help me w-wash my back,” Bill asked cheekily, earning another swat on the ass. That one actually stung and but he laughed as he rolled out of the other side of the bed. “B-b-be nice! I already g-got beat up once today.” 

“Don’t be a baby! Go take a shower and then I’ll take care of you,” Eddie said, a small smile starting to make its way to his face and ruining his stern expression. 

“Wait for me, Bill,” Richie said when the taller boy went to leave the room. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Richie tripping over himself trying to get out of his pants and follow him. “I’ll help you wash anything you want!” 

“Nope,” Eddie was grabbing onto Richie’s arm and pulling him back while pointing authoritatively at the door. “You stay,” he pushed Richie toward the bed. “You go shower!” 

Richie whined like a kicked dog and watched Bill leave. The redhead chuckled quietly and when the door closed behind him, Richie sighed. When he turned his gaze on Eddie, he was pulling a pair of sweats out of Bill’s dresser. 

“Jesus. I hate to see him go but I love to watch him leave,” Richie said, trying for a joke. Eddie didn’t laugh, though. He was busily rolling up the legs of his borrowed pants and pulling on a shirt. Moments later he was flitting across the room to dig a first aid kit out of the bottom drawer of Bill’s desk. “Hey. Eds. You alright?” 

“I’m fine,” Eddie said quickly, picking through the first aid kit. Then he went back to muttering to himself as he pulled out bandages, tape, neosporin. 

Richie watched for a moment before getting up off the bed. He had to take a second to kick fully out of his jeans before walking up behind Eddie and wrapping his arms around his waist. Laying his chin on his shoulder, Richie looked down his nose at the plie of first aid supplies that Eddie had pulled out of the box. It was doubtful that he was going to need all that stuff just to patch up Bill’s skinned shoulders and cheek. A little neosporin was probably going to be all he needed. If that. 

“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard? He just skinned up his shoulders and cheek. Anything infectious is probably going to get washed down the drain while he showers,” Richie pointed out, feeling Eddie tense in his arms. The shorter boy squirmed a little, trying to put a little distance between the two of them. 

“Fuck off. Do you have any idea how disgusting that water is? Who knows what all the fuck is in it! He could get a staph infection! Or what if there’s som parasites in the water and no one knows yet? He probably hit his head when he went down! He could have a concussion! Or what if he inhaled some of the water? Has he been coughing since we went to the movies? What if he’s dry drowning right now, what if-- RICHIE PUT ME DOWN,” Eddie screeched, kicking his legs a little as Richie hefted him up off the ground, stumbling backward till he fell back onto Bill’s bed. Eddie landed in his lap and instantly started struggling to get back up. 

“Woah there! Settle down and take a breath! You’re freaking yourself the fuck out,” Richie said, holding the squirming boy closer to himself. When Eddie didn’t stop squirming, Richie let him go, only to grab his hand, making him yelp. His knuckles were bruised and swollen from punching Joshua in the head. “You got hurt too, you know.” 

“Let go! I’m fine,” Eddie protested, though he’d stopped fighting to get away. He actually let himself get reeled back in, dropping down beside Richie at the other boy’s urging. “It’s just some bruised knuckles.” 

“Yeah and Bill’s just got a few scrapes. He’s gonna be fine,” Richie reiterated with a smirk. “Why’re you working yourself up so much? You sound like your mom.” He snickered at the offended look that Eddie gave him and shrugged. “Well you do. ‘Don’t go swimming at the quarry Eddie! You know how your asthma is! You could drown!’ ‘Don’t use a public toilet, Eddie! You’re going to get herpes!’ ‘Don’t--” 

“Alright. Alright. I get it… you’re right,” Eddie said, with a sigh. He hunched forward, planting his elbows on his knees and scrubbing his hands over his face. Then Richie’s hand was on his back and he leaned into the touch until he was tucked into the other boy’s side. 

Eddie’s mother had conditioned him to overreact to Injuries and illness. Having Bill, Richie, and the rest of the Losers made it easier to break the habit. They let him be himself instead of the helpless, sickly, little kid that his mother so desperately needed him to be. Still, he had a tendency to panic as he shuffled through all the worst possibilities when he got stressed. And today had been intense. 

“Of course I am, darling. Now vhy don’t you tell doctor Trashmouth vat is vong,” Richie said, stroking his hand across Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie pulled back just enough to look at him, a confused frown on his face. 

“Was that supposed to be German,”Eddie asked, making Richie pout. 

“Yeah! So far this voice is just called ‘The German Psychiatrist’. What did it sound like,” Richie replied while Eddied smile and shook his head. If getting laughed at was the price of a smile, Richie could afford it. 

“Like some kind of fucked up French,” Eddie said with a snort. 

“Fuck you, just tell me what’s gotten up your ass,” Richie said, nudging Eddie in the ribs. 

“Today was just intense.” Bill and Bev got in fights with their local bullies. What happened earlier that day hadn’t really been surprising. “Lyman looked like he was actually trying to kill Bill. He was holding his face in the water in the canal and fucking screaming like some animal.” Eddie shuddered frowned deeply as he stared across the room. “Sometimes he makes me think of Henry Bowers or Patrick Hockstetter.” 

“That’s some fucked up shit,” Richie said, rolling his shoulders as he tried to shake off the cold feeling that had run down his spine. 

He wished that he couldn't imagine what it had been like for Eddie to see Joshua trying to drown Bill. Just thinking about it made his blood run cold. Somehow hearing that the guy reminded Eddie of Patrick and Henry just made it worse. The memory of that epic rock fight where they met MIke suddenly came to mind. A lot of that Summer was hazy at best. He could remember that Summer being the most wild, important time of his life. The exact reasons why escaped him though. Even the memory of the rock fight was a little unclear.

Mostly what Richie remembered was the feeling. It was something nasty and dark that he didn’t like to think about. But he remembered very clearly that he hadn’t cared if they actually hurt Bowers or any of his gang. When Bill had told him that the seven of them could put Henry in the hospital Riche had wanted to make good on it. There was a shadow of that feeling that struck him in the chest when he thought of seeing Joshua Lyman trying to drown Bill. 

Hell, just the thought of him touching Bill made Richie want to hurt him. It was an odd feeling for someone who would would usually sooner run than fight. He didn’t say anything about that to Eddie but he was pretty sure that he would have understood. 

“There’s a bruise on his fucking throat from where he grabbed Bill by the throat, right before Ben, Mike, and Stan showed up,” Eddie continued, clenching his jaw after he spoke. “We have to get out of here, Richie.” He laughed, lifting his hands to cover his face. “I feel like a fucking crazy person saying this. It feels like the worst thing in the entire world that could happen is one of us dying. I don’t just mean Bill. I mean If anything happened to Beverly, or MIke, You, Stan! I feel like I can deal with anyone dying but one of us.” 

Eddie’s head shook from side to side a little and he stopped talking. His thumb found its way to his mouth and he started biting at the skin around his thumbnail. There was a heaviness hanging around them now. It felt too meaningful and deep for Richie. These sorts of made him feel too vulnerable and cracked open. 

The only way that he really enjoyed it was if he was a little drunk. Or a little high. 

He was a terrible influence on the group as a whole and terribly proud of it. 

“Well at least he had you there to save him, tough guy,” Richie teased, carefully grabbing hold of Eddie’s bruised hand and smiled. “Looks like you got some licks in, babyface!” 

Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled, experimentally flexing his fingers. They ached but there was a small amount of pride that came with the pain. The only problem was that he was going to have to think of something to tell his mom about his hand. Maybe he could spend the night with Bill or Richie and put that nightmare off for a little longer. 

Behind them the door creaked open and Bill was back.

Both Richie and Eddie turned to look at him as he came into the room. He froze for a moment when all four pairs of eyes landed on him. One hand was holding his towel around his hips. The other was cradling a couple ice packs against his chest. 

“W-w-what’re you l-looking at,” Bill asked with a confused smile. He came further in the room and shut the door behind him. 

He paused by the bed to give Eddie one of the ice packs, then stopped at his dresser. When he dropped his towel to switch it out for a pair of boxers Richie whistled. It was so expected by now that Bill didn’t even react, just came to flop down across the bed beside Richie. 

“What’s cookin, good lookin,” Richie asked, laying down alongside Bill as Eddie hopped off the bed, presumably to go get the stuff he’d pulled out of the first aid box. 

Bill grumbled unintelligibly and buried his face in his folded arms in response. Chuckling, Richie laid his hand on his back, much like he had done for Eddie, and stroked along Bill’s spine. The skin under his hand was soft and smooth, spotted with the occasional dusting of freckles or mole. Then he reached Bill’s shoulders where the skin was broken and scabbed over, making it rough. Richie’s fingers tread lightly across the abrasions. Still, he felt Bill shiver under his touch. 

“Hey,” Bill’s voice was soft and when Richie looked at him, he was peeking at him from over his elbow. Blue eyes blinked slowly and the scrapes on his right cheek were just barely visible from where his face was tucked into his arms. “Y-you okay?” 

“He’s fine. Stay still.” That was all the warning Bill got before Eddie was crawling on top of him. The redhead pushed himself up on his elbows and twisted around to look at where Eddie had seated himself in the small of his back. 

“So that’s the real reason you wanted him to take a shower! I’m down to move this party to pound town,” Richie said, bouncing his brows so they popped up over the top of his glasses a few times. 

“G-Go easy on m-me Eddie. I hurt,” Bill whined, a grin on his face. Eddie flicked his ear and he jerked his head away, burying his face in his arms again. “Wh-why’re you so mean to m-me?” 

Richie laughed but didn’t escape Eddie’s wrath. 

His punishment was a swat to the back of the head. 

“Because you’re both idiots,” Eddie replied, squeezing some neosporin onto his fingers as he spoke. Carefully as he could, he started smearing the ointment over Bill’s shoulders. “You nearly died today and you’re just making jokes.” 

“B-But I didn’t die,” Bill said, smiling against his arms. When he felt Eddie’s hand travel from one side of his back to the other, he turned his head so that the smaller boy could reach his cheek. “You s-saved me. Re-remember. You-You’re my knight in shining ar-armor, Eds.”   
Bill couldn’t see it but Eddie had flushed, a small smile coming to his face. 

“He’s right. Now fairytale rules say you two get to bang it out and live happily ever after,” Richie said eagerly. Bill laughed and Eddie sighed, rolling his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day. 

“Woul--Wouldn’t be happily ever ah-after without both of y-you,” Bill said quietly as Eddie slid off his back and laid down on his other side. 

“That was sappy as fuck,” Richie said, wrinkling his nose. Bill just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. 

“S’true,” was all Bill said. Even if his face was pressed into his arms, Richie could still hear the smile in his voice. “Donno w-what I would d-do without both of-of you.” 

He didn’t know what he would do without the rest of the Losers either. Bill found it hard to follow that depressing train of thought when he was sandwiched between Eddie and Richie, though. Besides, he was tired. Even with his legs dangling off the bed he still felt like he was about to fall asleep. Yawning hugely, he turned onto his side and and hoooked his arm around Eddie. Behind him, Richie pouted. 

“This mean we’re not gonna get it on,” Richie asked jokingly, already pressing himself up against Bill’s back and reaching over him to side his hand under Eddie’s shirt so he could pet his hip.

“Nap now. W-We’ll finger the rest out l-later,” Bill said into Eddie’s neck. 

A chorus of groans from Eddie and laughter from Richie filled the room and Bill smiled.


End file.
